Packaging machine



NOV. 14, 1967 KOBCK PACKAGING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed June 1, 1962 8 N MM U R \w M w W. To; U me. n m v V mv m I] M Q? Q I 3 W i 3 w/ J m 0L T H v I ll wr. w 8. g 111 mm mn.\1 w I H UL l b :31 n \x\\\\\ 2 Sheets-Sheet, 2

Original Filed June 1, 1962 United States Patent 3,352,087 PACKAGING MACHINE David G. Kobick, 723 Woodmere Drive, Chagrin Falls, Ohio 44022 Griginal application June 1, 1962, Ser. No. 199,317, new Patent No. 3,242,635, dated Mar. 29, 1966. Divided and this application Dec. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 421,058

4 Claims. (Cl. 53-389) This invention relates to packaging machinery and more particularly to a machine for feeding film to make packages, encasing an object, or objects.

This application is a division of United States patent application Ser. No. 199,317, filed June 1, 1962, entitled, Packaging Machine, now US. Patent 3,242,635.

In the packaging industry specialized machines for packaging wieners and similar products have been available for some time. With these machines the packages are usually formed in an inverted position. A film of plastic material is positioned over a package forming box sometimes called a die bushing. A quantity of wieners, or other commodity to be packaged, is placed in a loading enclosure or loader positioned above the film and the box. The loader will usually be rectangular in configuration and of a cross sectional area corresponding to the interior of the package forming box. After an appropriate number of wieners have been positioned in the loader, the wieners are forced downwardly against the plastic and then into the interior of the box. This stretches the plastic fiat and smooth under the wieners in the area that will become the top or face of the finished package. This also folds the plastic upwardly around the perimeter of the face and forms an ear at such corner of the package. The box has camming surfaces known as plows which are contoured to fold the ears at the corners of the forming package. As the wieners are pressed downwardly into the box, these ears are folded so that by the time the face of the package is at the furthest extremity of the box, the ears have been folded into position for tucking inwardly over the remaining surface of the wieners.

Next, side folding plates known as tuckers are inserted from the sides of the box to tuck the sides of the package snugly across the top of the wieners. An end folder is then inserted in the box from the back side folding that end of the package over tightly across the top of the wieners and across the previously tucked side portions. Finally, the package is ejected forward and horizontally from the box and the last or front flap is folded over simultaneously by the camming action of the box as the package of wieners i pressed out of the box. The package is then heat sealed to complete the operation.

The invention of the above-referenced application overcame a number of disadvantages of the prior art through the provision of a novel and improved adjustable die box which is adjustable to provide a cross sectional area of any desired dimension. In the preferred arrangement adjustment of the cross section of the box simultaneously adjusts the cross sectional area of the loading enclosure to a corresponding shape and size.

This application is directed to a novel and improved adjustable film feeding and severing mechanism which is adjustable to provide a desired amount of film centered at a loading station. It also is capable of feeding film through a very confined space such as between the loader and die box of the above-referenced application where clearance between the two is inherently limited to one-half the diameter of a Wiener being packaged.

Accordingly, the principal object of this invention is to provide a mechanism which can be changed to adjust the amount of film delivered to a centralized position over a die box, or the like.

3 ,352,087 Patented Nov. 14-, 1967 Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the device as seen from the plane indicated by the line 1-1 of FIG- URE 2; and,

FIGURE 2 is an end elevational View of the device as seen from the plane indicated by the line 22 of FIGURE 1.

In the drawings a part of a machine frame in the form of a base plate 10 is shown. For clarity of illustration only the important portions of this frame are shown in the drawings. A package forming box defines a packaging station and is shown generally at 11. The box 11 is mounted on the base plate 10 and extends downwardly through an aperture in the plate. A tubular loader, shown generally at 12, is above the box 11. The details of the box and loader construction and the manner of mounting the box 11 and the loader 12 on the frame are explained in the above-referenced application. Here, for environment, they will be explained briefly.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, the mechanism for supplying film, removing the finished packages and other cooperating structures are shown. To provide an understanding of the operation of the machine these mechanisms and cooperating structures will be described briefly here. A supply of plastic film or cellophane such as coil 13 is provided. At the commencement of a packaging operation a sheet of this plastic film is :fed between the loader enclosure 12 and the die box 11. This sheet is fed into position across top loading opening 14 of the box 11 and then severed by a film feeding srtucture supported by a feed iu lg-porting plate 19. This feed structure will be described e ow.

After the plastic film has been positioned across the load opening 14, an appropriate number of wieners, or another object to be packaged, is placed in the loader 12, while elevator 16 is immediately under the film to support it. A ram 15 is shown in both a solid line position and a phantom position. This ram is reciprocal along a vertical axis, and both of its pictured positions are obtained during a reciprocation.

Once the appropriate number of wieners have been placed in the loader 12, the ram 15 is lowered against the action of the elevator 16 to force the wieners and the positioned sheet of film down through the load opening 14 into the die box. As the ram descends, the film is tensliloned across the face of the wieners and folded around t em.

The elevator 16 is reciprocatably mounted near the base of the box. A relatively light air cylinder 20 urges the elevator 16 upwardly so that it forms a steadying. base for the package to be formed. After the package is formed, it is ejected onto a heat sealing conveyor 17.

The plastic feed mechanism A strip of plastic is fed from the coil of plastic film 13 around an idler roller 101, FIGURE 1. The strip of plastic 100 is fed from the idler roller 101 transeversely to the right as seen in FIGURE 1, above the feed mechanism support plate 19. A reciprocatable film feeding clamp 102 is provided which selectively grips the plastic film.

At the commencement of a cycle fluid cylinders 103 are energized to shift the reciprocatable feeding clamp 102 to the right as seen in FIGURE 1 from the pictured park position until it is in a feed position substantially abutting a normally stationary film holding clamp 104. At this time the holding clamp is closed gripping the plastic strip 100 to hold it and then the feeding clamp 102 is opened. The cylinders 103 are then energized in the opposite direction to retract the feeding clamp to the position shown in FIGURE 1. After the feeding clamp 102 has returned to this position, it is again closed to place the mechanism in the position shown in FIGURE 1. This described operation of the clamps obviously feeds the plastic film across the load opening 14 and tensions it for a subsequent package forming operation.

Before the ram 15 forces the wieners to be packaged downwardly into the die box 11, a shear 105 is energized to sever the tensioned plastic film near the feeding clamp 102. The holding clamp 104 is then opened while the feed ing clamp 102 is maintained in a closed position to ready the film for a subsequent cycle. When the film has been severed by the shear 105 and the holding clamp 104 has been opened, a piece of plastic of an appropriate size to form a package is free to be forced downwardly into the die box with the materials being packaged. After the ram 15 has fed the material to be packaged downwardly and the ram has returned to its upper dwell posi tion, (not shown), the feeding clamp 102 is again fed across the load opening 14 to feed additional plastic film into position for a subsequent package forming operation.

Because the die box 11 is of an adjustable size, it is necessary to adjust the length of the plastic film severed so that the appropriate amount of film is supplied for a given size of package. To accomplish this adjustment of film size, the shear 105 and the holding clamp 104 are each threadedly connected to a pair of adjustment screws 106. The adjustment screws are secured together by a Chain 107, FIGURE 1, so that rotation of the adjustment knob 108 will cause simultaneous rotation of both adjustment screws.

A locating stop 109 projects from the shear 105, to the left, as seen in FIGURE 1. This locating stop 109 limits leftward travel of the feeding clamp 102. Adjustment of the shear 105 will, through stop 109, simultaneously effect adjustment of the feeding clamp 102 against the action of the cylinders 103 to an appropriate position.

In order to expedite the feeding of a finished package from the die box 11 onto the conveyor 1'7, the left hand side of the die box 11 as seen in FIGURE 1 is fixed against adjusting movement in the plane of FIGURE 1 as will be described in greater detail below. Accordingly, all adjustment of die box size in the plane of FIGURE 1 relative to the frame is accomplished by the right hand side of the die box. This affects the adjustment of the plastic feed mechanism since it means that any adjustment of the die box in the plane of FIGURE 1 will move the center of the die box to enable the plastic to be oriented symmetrically over the load opening 1-4. Because the center of the die box moves each time the died box is adjusted, the holding clamp 104 must be adjusted three times as much as the shear 105 so that the two will be spaced equal distances on opposite sides of the center of the die box. To accomplish this the adjustment screws 106 include large diameter major adjustment portion 110 which are in threaded engagement with the holding clamp 104 and smaller diameter minor adjustment portions 111 which have a thread pitch /3 the pitch of the larger diameter portion 110. The minor adjustment portions threadedly engage the shear 105.

As an example, suppose the died box is opened one inch by adjustment of the die box. This means that an extra two inches of plastic is required to accommodate the extra inch on both the top and the bottom of the package. In addition to separating the fixed clamp 104 and the shear 105 two inches it is necessary to move a point which is midway between them one-half inch to the right to again center a severed piece of plastic over the die box 11. When the knob 10% is rotated an appropriate amount to move the movable clamp 104 and the knife two inches further apart, this travel is accomplished by one-half inch of movement of the shear 105 to the left and one and one-half inches of movement of the stationary clamp 104 to the right.

Another advantage of this manual adjustment of the spacing between the clamps and shear is less apparent. The material being used to wrap the wieners is usually printed. During the printing process indicia are printed on the strip of film to indicate the appropriate places for severing the film to obtain pieces with the printing properly oriented and centered. The locations of these indicia with respect to one another vary because of fluctuations and variations in the printing process. Accordingly, to keep the film strip properly oriented for severing with the printed matter located so that the top face of the finished package will bear the desired printed matter, it is necessary from time to time to adjust the relative spacing of clamps and the shear. The manual adjustment accomplished through knob 108 permits the operator to make minor adjustments in the plastic feed from time to time as wieners are being packaged so that the film is maintained in a properly oriented condition when the machine is in use.

The die box and loader The die box 11 includes four generally L-shaped box members three of which are shown and identified by the numerals 21, 22, 24. The members define what may be referred to, in the embodiment shown, as front and rear walls 25, 26 and spaced side walls 27, 28. The portions of the members defining the front and rear walls 25, 26 include overlapping fingers designated by the numeral 30. These fingers 30 overlap to define continuous front and rear walls even though the box members are adjustable. Thus, as the members 23, 24 are adjusted toward and away from the members 21, 22, the overlapping fingers provide a smooth and continuous supporting side wall.

As the wieners and plastic are pressed downwardly into the box, deflector plates 32 will act against the ends of the package folding the plastic at the ends upwardly. These deflectors 32 are each a part of the corner members 21-24. Each is secured to the remainder of the corner member by a strap 33 so that the deflector is held in spaced relationship with the remainder of the corner member to define a vertical slot 34. As a descending package comes past the top of the deflector members and the ends of the package are folded up, ears will remain which project outwardly into these vertical slots.

Each corner member includes a plow 35 which is positioned immediately below the associated vertical slot 34. The plow together with its associated deflector plate define plow slots 36. The ears of the package are cammed inwardly by the plows while maintained in these slots so that they are folded over. Thus, the ears are converted 7 into pleat-like corner folds in the package as the forming package is moved downwardly to the position shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 at the package forming station.

In the lower portion of the side walls where the final package forming operations are performed, overlapping fingers 37 are provided so that the side walls are indeed continuous. Thus, as the package is forced into the package forming station in the lower portion of the chamber defined by the die box, the overlapping fingers 37 will assure end-wise alignment of the wieners.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, a pair of side folding plates known as tuckers 38, 39 are provided. These tuckers are supported on air cylinders 40, 41 which in turn are secured to the underside of the base plate 10. After the package has been pressed downwardly into its package forming station and the corner folds have been formed, the tuckers 38, 39 are inserted into the interior of the box to tuck the package sides and corner folds downwardly. In order to permit the insertion of these tuckers 38, 39 into the box, slots 42, only one of which is visible in FIGURE 1, are provided in the sides of the box.

After the sides of the package have been tucked inwardly by the tuckers 38, 39, the rearward end of the package is folded down by a rearward folder plate 44. This rearward folder 44 is positioned below the base plate 10.

It is supported by a folder actuation cylinder 45 mounted on top of the base plate 10.

Four goosenecks 50 are provided which connect corners 51-54 of the loader 12 to the corresponding corner members of the box '11. Thus, the loader corner member 51 is secured by one gooseneck 50 to the box corner member 21 and always maintained immediately above it. Similarly, the loader corner members 52-54 are maintained above the box corner members 22-24 respectively.

A pair of lengthwise adjustment screws 60, 61 are rotatably supported above the base plate 10. These screws are referred to as lengthwise adjustment screws in that they adjust the dimension of the package from front to rear even though this dimension may at times, as shown in the drawings, be less than the width dimension of the package. The lengthwise adjustment screws 60, 61 are connected together by a chain 62 and gears mounted on the respective shafts. When the adjustment screw 61 is rotated, a simultaneous, equal amount of rotation of the adjustment screw 60 is obtained because of the chain connection.

Four lengthwise adjustment drive members three of which are shown and identified by the numerals 71-73 are threadably connected to the adjustment screws 60, 61. Each of these lengthwise adjustment members is positioned in one of a plurality of guide slots 75. These guide slots are in box member drive extensions 76 which project outwardly from the corners of the box.

In order to maintain the die box properly oriented with respect to the conveyor 17, the corner members 22, 23 are secured against movement relative to the frame 10. In the embodiment shown this is accomplished with a pair of upstanding box locators 65 which are fixed to the frame 10. The locators 65 extend into overlapping chan- :nels one of which is shown at 66 in FIGURE 1, secured respectively to corner members 22, 23. The locators 65 are slidable relative to the channels to accommodate width adjustment of the die box.

Width adjustment is obtained by width adjustment screws 77, 78 which are also rotatively mounted on base plate 10. These width adjustment screws threadably engage four adjustment blocks 79. The adjustment blocks 79 carry a pair of adjustment shafts 80, 81. The adjustment shaft 80 is slidably connected to the corner members 23, 24, while the adjustment shaft 81 is slidably connected to the corner members 21, 22.

When the screw 77 is caused to rotate and, through a driving engagement of a chain 84, the screw 78 is caused to rotate simultaneously an equal amount. These rotating screws will cause the width adjustment shafts 80, 81 to move toward and away from one another bringing the box corner members 23, 24 as a unit toward and away from the box corner members 21, 22 as another unit.

Ejection and conveying mechanisms The ejection mechanism includes the folder and the cylinder 44, 45. An ejection cylinder 46 is mounted on a reciprocating ejection plate 47. This reciprocating plate 47 is secured to the rearward folder 44 so that it reciprocates with it. Thus, whenever the folder 44 is extended through a rearward slot 49 into the interior of the box, the ejection cylinder 46 and its supporting plate 47 are moved forwardly into an ejection ready position.

At the conclusion of the folding the ejection cylinder 46 may be actuated. A pusher 48 mounted on the ejection cylinder advances to eject the package from the box and onto the conveyor 17. The pusher 48 includes a camming surface 49 which is used to depress the spring elevator 16 in the event that the elevator is in the path of the pusher 48.

The conveyor 17 includes a pair of package holding members in the form of an upper heated belt 85 and a lower compression belt 86 which are supported respectively by conveyor frames 87, 88. A scissor-like lever system 89 connects the frames 87, 88 together. The scissor lever system includes upper and lower pins 90, 91 which are slidable respectively in slots 92, 93 formed in the frames 87, 88. A spring 95 is interposed between the heated conveyor frame 87 and the upper slidable pin 90.

The frame 88 of the compression belt includes an extension 97 which extends over the elevator 16. Whenever the elevator is depressed as a package being formed is forced downwardly into the load station, the elevator acts against the extension 97 to shift the compression belt 86 downwardly a corresponding distance.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A film supply mechanism comprising:

(a) a frame defining a work station;

(b) a stationary clamp mounted on the frame;

(0) a movable clamp mounted on the frame and movable along a fil-m feed path from a parked position to a film feeding position adjacent the stationary clamp and return, said clamps defining a material tensioning space therebetween when the movable clamp is in the parked position;

(d) said movable clamp having a dimension transverse of the path greater than the work station whereby the material is fully supported transversely as it is fed along said path;

(e) said station being between said clamps when said movable clamp is in its parked position;

(f) first and second shear blades mounted on opposite sides of said path and between said clamps when the movable clamp is in the parked position and near one end of said tensioning space;

(g) said shear blades being between one of said clamps and said station;

(h) supply means connected to said frame on one side of said station and positioned to supply a strip of flexible material to be fed along said path;

(i) means for opening and closing said clamps in timed relationship at appropriate intervals during a material feed cycle; and

(j) a clamp reciprocating mechanism connected to the frame and to the movable clamp to shift the movable clamp from its parked position along said path between the blades of the shear to the stationary clamp and return whereby to feed a portion of such film across the station and tense the material across the station.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said fixed clamp has a transverse dimension substantially equal to the movable clamp.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said one clamp is said fixed clamp and wherein said blades are near the fixed clamp.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein said blades extend completely across said feed path.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,676,441 4/ 1954 Brooks 5373 2,720,068 10/1955 Brook 53389 X 2,788,625 4/1957 Larsen et a1 53-3 89 X 2,952,958 9/1960 Theiler 53389 X ROBERT C. RIORDON, Primary Examiner.

P. H. POHL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A FILM SUPPLY MECHANISM COMPRISING: (A) A FRAME DEFINING A WORK STATION; (B) A STATIONARY CLAMP MOUNTED ON THE FRAME; (C) A MOVABLE CLAMP MOUNTED ON THE FRAME AND MOVABLE ALONG A FILM FEED PATH FROM A PARKED POSITION TO A FILM FEEDING POSITION ADJACENT THE STATIONARY CLAMP AND RETURN, SAID CLAMPS DEFINING A MATERIAL TENSIONING SPACE THEREBETWEEN WHEN THE MOVABLE CLAMP IS IN THE PARKED POSITION: (D) SAID MOVABLE CLAMP HAVING A DIMENSION TRANSVERSE OF THE PATH GREATER THAN THE WORK STATION WHEREBY THE MATERIAL IS FULLY SUPPORTED TRANSVERSELY AS IT IS FED ALONG SAID PATH; (E) SAID STATION BEING BETWEEN SAID CLAMPS WHEN SAID MOVABLE CLAMP IS IN ITS PARKED POSITION; (F) FIRST AND SECOND SHEAR BLADES MOUNTED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID PATH AND BETWEEN SAID CLAMPS WHEN THE MOVABLE CLAMP IS IN THE PARKED POSITION AND NEAR ONE END OF SAID TENSIONING SPACE; (G) SAID SHEAR BLADES BEING BETWEEN ONE OF SAID CLAMPS AND SAID STATION; (H) SUPPLY MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID FRAME ON ONE SIDE OF SAID STATION AND POSITIONED TO SUPPLY A STRIP OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL TO BE FED ALONG SAID PATH; (I) MEANS FOR OPENING AND CLOSING SAID CLAMPS IN TIMED RELATIONSHIP AT APPROPRIATE INTERVALS DURING A MATERIAL FEED CYCLE; AND (J) A CLAMP RECIPROCATING MECHANISM CONNECTED TO THE FRAME AND TO THE MOVABLE CLAMP TO SHIFT THE MOVABLE CLAMP FROM ITS PARKED POSITION ALONG SAID PATH BETWEEN THE BLADES OF THE SHEAR TO THE STATIONARY CLAMP AND RETURN WHEREBY TO FEED A PORTION OF SUCH FILM ACROSS THE STATION AND TENSE THE MATERAIAL ACROSS THE STATION. 